A few days had passed since the start of the tutorial.
The door to the second floor was still tightly closed, and most of the players began wondering whether the group that entered the tutorial before them had encountered some kind of problem.
At this moment, in the cafeteria of the mall, several people talked while stuffing their mouths with the delicious food.
"Yesterday, I saw Donald talking to one of the players who had already passed the second floor." A player said while taking a bite of his food. "I assume he tried to fish some information about the next floor."
"Wait, you can do that?" Another player asked in surprise.
"I don't see why not." The player said. "However, they aren't apparently giving the information for free. You would have to pay Shinecoins for that information."
"Ach..."
"Shinecoins are important, so no wonder that they aren't giving information for free." The player said. "However, can any of us even afford it?"
"Yeah..." The other player sighed. "I checked the price for weapons and skills. They are ridiculously expensive. I only got 3 Shinecoins for all the stuff I managed to gather, and I almost died for those."
"Yeah, that Flamekeeper merchant is very hard-headed." The player sighed. "No matter what I said, he just didn't want to listen."
"Psst, he is here." The third person on the table whispered and nudged his chin to point at the person who entered the cafeteria.
The person was a black-haired young man with a pale-skinned face and navy-blue eyes. His build was rather lean, and one wouldn't think he was strong at first glance, but none of them seemed to underestimate him.
"Adam..." The player whispered. "He must have some information about the second floor, right?"
"Why do you think so?"
"He seemed to know where the boss of the first floor was hiding." The player said. "I think he had received some information beforehand about the tutorial."
"That's cheating, isn't it?"
"Ron and Dakota didn't seem to forbid it." The player shrugged his shoulders. "However, he is still powerful and seems to have a background in martial arts. Perhaps one of his family members is already a mercenary and has trained him."
"Yeah, he managed to fight Ramon and his group alone." The third player shuddered. "I wouldn't want to fight them. They look like they are part of some gang in the real world."
"Right, real world." The player laughed. "It's been around three days since we came here. Anyone waiting for you when you get out?"
"No one for me."
"Neither for me."
The player nodded. "Easier that way. I had to convince my parents, which wasn't easy. They were afraid of my safety, or some shit like that."
"Yeah, for a good reason too." The other player scratched the back of his head. "This place isn't what I expected. Is this even a game? I feel like we are in a different world."
"Yeah..."
At that moment, a holographic screen appeared on the cafeteria wall. The screen showed the face of Dakota.
This was a holographic device that allowed people to talk—it was the only way of speaking from long distances in real-time. Other ways of communicating were via letters, but they were way slower.
"The second lesson begins now; come to the auditorium." Dakota's echoing voice traversed throughout the mall.
Without further ado, the group that had Dakota as a teacher stopped whatever they were doing and started moving towards the auditorium.
The other players didn't move an inch and continued to do their own stuff as they had different teachers, and thus this lesson didn't concern them as they had already gone through the second lesson.
After taking seats in the auditorium, Dakota appeared from the front of the auditorium with the same book in hand as before.
She stopped in the middle of the stage and opened her mouth.
"Welcome to the second lesson.
"Today's lesson, Chaosbeings and New World."
The players listened silently.
However, there were a few players missing, more noticeable Ramon and Hannibal, as they didn't bother to come for some lessons.
Seth took out his notepad and pencil to take notes.
Adam sat in the back row, even though he was more aware of the things than Dakota was most likely. He had, after all, thirteen years of memories from the future, and some things in the current timeline hadn't even been discovered yet.
Yet, he still came to the lesson believing that even a small thing like this would increase his final point score. He also didn't have anything else to do other than train.
"Chaosbeings, as we call them, are the creatures you encountered on the first floor." Dakota began the lesson. "The Chaosbeings are unpredictable and strange creatures."
"They can adapt to their environment and use everything around them to their advantage while battling the mercenaries.
"They are the main enemy of mercenaries. It is our duty to protect the Human Sanctuary from them!
"While dungeons are full of them, it's not their only place of existence.
"Beyond the dungeon, there is the New World—it is an enormous place surrounded by tall rock walls, and it surrounds our place of existence. It's called the Wall of the Living.
"The Wall of the Living circles us; it is what protects us from the horrors of the wasteland.
"Inside the wall, there are five cities—named Dawnwatch, Driftwood, New Karma, Ebonreach, and Imperium City.
"There are also countless villages and towns.
"That is what is inside the Wall of the Living and where mercenaries live alongside Originals.
"However, on the other side of the Wall of the Living, there is the wasteland. It is a god-forsaken land where Chaosbeings roam freely.
"That's where most mercenaries die, but it is still a place of enormous wealth and a way of gaining strength. That's why mercenaries still roam out there in search of treasures.
"You might think of Chaosbeings as mindless robots, but that is not true. The stronger Chaosbeing is, the more intelligent and trickier they are.
"Never underestimate them—the Chaosbeings you encountered on the first floor were also at the bottom of the hierarchy among Chaosbeings.
"We also have reason to believe that Chaosbeings are pretty much like us, with their own ruler and hierarchy."
At the back of the auditorium, Adam crossed his arms and thought.
'That's a rumor that is famous even in the future—there have been strange occurrences where powerful mercenaries disappear when they venture too far into the wasteland.
'The strange part is that they don't appear back in the real world. Even after their disappearance, they are still inside the game, slowly withering away till they die, and their loved ones cannot do anything about it.
'That was big news in the future, and parents used it to scare their children to stop them from playing. It is not such a big news in the current timeline, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening even now.'
Ding, ding!
At that moment, a holographic screen appeared on the screen of the auditorium, right behind Dakota.
Dakota turned around with a raised eyebrow and saw Ron's face on the large holographic screen.
"The second floor is now open." Ron's voice echoed, and then the holographic screen disappeared.
The player's jaws dropped in shock, as they didn't expect it to open so suddenly.
"Well then..." Dakota wryly smiled and turned to look at the players.
"The class has been concluded.
"Remember to check the mission board; there are missions for the second floor that will give extra points.
"Good luck."
Without further ado, the players hurried out of the auditorium, pushing other players out of their way.
Only one person walked at casual speed, and that was Adam.
'So it's finally time.' Adam thought and rubbed his neck. 'Good, I was getting bored. I have already decided on what mission I will undertake. It'll be quite interesting.'